BIOGRAPHY
Background
Gonzalo Zubillaga is a very special breed of an interdisciplinary composer. His roots lie in traditional musicals, classical music, rock, jazz, and film music. His first love was theatrical play and acting and musical improvisation, as well as classical-baroque piano and
classic films.
Zubillaga has been in the field of artistic production for over 20 years. He has written music for a dozen professional theatrical plays and over twenty TV and radio commercials. Zubilaga has training as an actor, understands dramaturgy, and has acted in plays and films. He has written music for several projects with clients in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao-Bilbo, Logrono, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bogota, Caracas, Mexico City, Miami, Kansas City, and Chicago.
But he was an artist long before his professional career took off.
He studied music from a young age and has remained student throughout most of his life at Diana Abreu’s studio (Caracas, Venezuela), Gerry Weil’s School (Caracas, Venezuela), Iudem (Caracas, Venezuela), Berklee College of Music (Boston, United States), Conservatory of Navarre (Pamplona, Spain) and Artez Music Conservatory (Arnhem, the Netherlands).
Gonzalo also deeply loves film. He started making films in early childhood. He'd create films of anything and everything his family was doing. Sometimes they'd write and make short films or comedy sketches. As he grew up, he also explored plastic arts and musical installations. He experimented with soundscaping and noise and became part of an art sound band named Sacred Family.
He led a rock band in the 90s. Satira was born out of Zubillaga’s love for classic rock. The band included childhood friends. They began as a group of four, later adding 2 bandmates. They started playing private parties for friends. They moved to high school rock festivals around Caracas and recorded various singles that were never officially released. Soon they were playing semi-professional gigs in the underground rock scene. The band split up before officially releasing their first record.
In the early 2000s, Gonzalo wrote music for the theater including several full-scale musicals. He also acted in, performed music for, and directed theater. After his period in theater, he eventually started working professionally on films and in advertising.
Creative Origins
What Moves Gonzalo
Gonzalo wants to lift up the importance of music as a ministry and the vitality of beauty to a world that is lacking connection and humanizing experiences. We need artists and art forms to flourish, leading us into deeper connections. Ultimately, these help lead us to love more deeply and care about this broken world.
Conveying emotions through music is at the core of Gonzalo’s craft. It's the reason why he excels at what he does. His love and respect for film and theatrical traditions as well as a deep commitment to teamwork and collaboration is where he finds true inspiration, by serving others in the craft of storytelling.
His work right now
He is interested in writing music for film and theater as well as media that places music at the service of dramaturgy, the theory and practice of dramatic storytelling, as well as other forms of storytelling.
Where In the World
Gonzalo has been living in Kansas with his Kansas-born wife for a couple of years. He’s a Venezuelan Spanish citizen. When he’s not composing, he and his wife Kimberly take in live music and theater, spend time in nature, and explore new places with family and friends.*
*Summer 2020 footnote: By “take in live music and theater,” we mean “watch those things online, and by “explore new places with family and friends,” we mean “text people and work on things at home a lot.”